Little details about me
Introductions are going to be slim I think. There are only so many irrelevancies to be tolerated by the average reader. For now, the following will have to suffice.
Mark is my real name and I am twenty as of A.D. 2004! I am a student Journalist and love to think of myself as a writer. "Reporting" Journalism cannot be considered my calling. Yes I know, that is what they all say in college until they finish and get their first job...as a reporter! I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it--pardon the cliche... Seriously, though, I consider my "final" career choice (within the writing environment) as being determined by two definite factors: 1, where the Lord leads and, 2, what kind of financial security can be offered by any given field.
My parents both love the Lord above all else and while Mom continues to serve Him here on earth in many wonderful and beautiful ways, Dad has, since he went to be with the Lord in 1987, been praising Him before His throne. He died of cancer when I was three. Mom has raised me and the other six siblings since then with a faith and trust in God which never ceases to amaze and shame me.
I am a member of an Orthodox Christian Reformed Church. It has been described as a "conservative" offshoot...from what many consider to be a very conservative denomination: the CRC. My understanding is that we have an identical system of government and form of doctrine in origin, yet we apply it in a much more careful and serious way. It is not pride which makes me say that we do things the way the CRC used to do things, but rather a matter of historical fact...such was the intent of our church's founders. My congregation is something to discuss at another time:)
My siblings have played a major part in my life. My two older brothers, three older and one younger sister have all left their imprint on me in some way. Funny how looking back makes things so much clearer in this regard. For example, my oldest sister Rachel (who is ten years my senior) and I were ever so good at clashing. To put it quite simply, we were very similar in personality. To me, this just meant I should avoid getting on her bad side. For her, this meant she thought she know all about me and took it on herself to teach me things about me! Oh, the endless morning discussions about the letter versus the spirit of the law! I remember such things all too well. It taught me that saying the first thing to come to your mind--whether true or not--was not conducive to shortening the discussion. No, nothing was going to bring things to a conclusion till I had either been tactful enough to convinced her (without lying) that I agreed, or unless I just out-right agreed! No shades of grey here! It's black or white or nothing at all! Don't get me wrong now. I do think she was good at picking some things up about me which I now look back on with a certain amount of gratitude for having been shown so early in life...
I wish I had more time to talk about all my other sibling right now...but I think little things about them will leak out soon enough, so I won't worry too much about it. Rachel is, by the way, married, lives in California now and has two children of her own!
Civil Air Patrol...(look it up if you don't know:) This program has been a big part of my life even before I joined over five years ago because my brother Nathan was also a part of it all before me. Yes, I can't deny that I had a great advantage in joining several years after him because I was able to learn a great deal from him and not make many of the same blunders. Also there is that fact that I haven't had to seriously make a name for myself in the program till the last two or three year because my brother was so well known. Only now do I know more people who didn't know Nathan than those who did. I'm really grateful for the real-world leadership skills I have learned in CAP... I have seen their effect on the rest of my life and I thank God for them. Minute as they are, so much could not have happened without them.
Ok, so I forgot to go easy on the introductions! Oops and sorry. I'm not going to delete it now.
Mark is my real name and I am twenty as of A.D. 2004! I am a student Journalist and love to think of myself as a writer. "Reporting" Journalism cannot be considered my calling. Yes I know, that is what they all say in college until they finish and get their first job...as a reporter! I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it--pardon the cliche... Seriously, though, I consider my "final" career choice (within the writing environment) as being determined by two definite factors: 1, where the Lord leads and, 2, what kind of financial security can be offered by any given field.
My parents both love the Lord above all else and while Mom continues to serve Him here on earth in many wonderful and beautiful ways, Dad has, since he went to be with the Lord in 1987, been praising Him before His throne. He died of cancer when I was three. Mom has raised me and the other six siblings since then with a faith and trust in God which never ceases to amaze and shame me.
I am a member of an Orthodox Christian Reformed Church. It has been described as a "conservative" offshoot...from what many consider to be a very conservative denomination: the CRC. My understanding is that we have an identical system of government and form of doctrine in origin, yet we apply it in a much more careful and serious way. It is not pride which makes me say that we do things the way the CRC used to do things, but rather a matter of historical fact...such was the intent of our church's founders. My congregation is something to discuss at another time:)
My siblings have played a major part in my life. My two older brothers, three older and one younger sister have all left their imprint on me in some way. Funny how looking back makes things so much clearer in this regard. For example, my oldest sister Rachel (who is ten years my senior) and I were ever so good at clashing. To put it quite simply, we were very similar in personality. To me, this just meant I should avoid getting on her bad side. For her, this meant she thought she know all about me and took it on herself to teach me things about me! Oh, the endless morning discussions about the letter versus the spirit of the law! I remember such things all too well. It taught me that saying the first thing to come to your mind--whether true or not--was not conducive to shortening the discussion. No, nothing was going to bring things to a conclusion till I had either been tactful enough to convinced her (without lying) that I agreed, or unless I just out-right agreed! No shades of grey here! It's black or white or nothing at all! Don't get me wrong now. I do think she was good at picking some things up about me which I now look back on with a certain amount of gratitude for having been shown so early in life...
I wish I had more time to talk about all my other sibling right now...but I think little things about them will leak out soon enough, so I won't worry too much about it. Rachel is, by the way, married, lives in California now and has two children of her own!
Civil Air Patrol...(look it up if you don't know:) This program has been a big part of my life even before I joined over five years ago because my brother Nathan was also a part of it all before me. Yes, I can't deny that I had a great advantage in joining several years after him because I was able to learn a great deal from him and not make many of the same blunders. Also there is that fact that I haven't had to seriously make a name for myself in the program till the last two or three year because my brother was so well known. Only now do I know more people who didn't know Nathan than those who did. I'm really grateful for the real-world leadership skills I have learned in CAP... I have seen their effect on the rest of my life and I thank God for them. Minute as they are, so much could not have happened without them.
Ok, so I forgot to go easy on the introductions! Oops and sorry. I'm not going to delete it now.
posted by Mark at 12:08 AM
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